(Image Credit: Newsfile / CFJC Today)

By Curtis Goodrum

CHILD VACCINATIONS

Interior Health says childhood vaccinations on the rise but not by enough

Mar 13, 2026 | 6:17 AM

KAMLOOPS — Childhood vaccination rates in British Columbia are on the rise, but health officials warn that they’re still lower than what they should be. 

In B.C., just over 58 per cent of children aged seven are fully up to date on their vaccines, a worrying statistic says Interior Health. 

“At age two, currently, we are sitting at 68.2 per cent coverage. At age seven, we are sitting at 63.4 per cent coverage. For the whole of Interior Health, the region-wide coverage up to date at age two is 66.7 per cent and up to date at age seven is 58.6 per cent,” Dr. Sanez Vaseghi, Interior Health Medical Health Officer says. 

In 2025, Canada lost its measles elimination status, a status it has held since 1998. Interior Health warns that without people taking the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine, the disease could get a foothold in the region. 

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“In 2025, we saw an increase in measles activity in Interior Health in the rest, the rest of B.C. and also other provinces in Canada. The good thing about measles is that it is totally preventable with a vaccine. Usually, people who are not vaccinated are at risk,” Dr. Vaseghi says.  

Interior Health says its goal is to get vaccines into more communities with the hope of making routine vaccinations more widely available. 

“In British Columbia, we offer the vaccine at different age points. We offer them at the age of two months, four months, six months, one year, and 18 months. We also go to school for grades six and nine but any time that people feel that they would like to look at their records and catch up with everything that has been missing,” Dr. Vaseghi says.  

The health authority says parents should be more cautious of misinformation they see about vaccines online and make sure it is a reliable source. 

“We understand that people want the best for their children, but sometimes they cannot differentiate between the recommendation coming out from a known organization, or an ordinary person who is sharing their personal opinion,” Dr. Vaseghi says.  

More vaccine information can be found on Interior Health’s website.